Chapter 63: Semifinals (III) — Fond of Recalling to Taunt
“Fugui, be careful. Their support might be waiting in the top lane to gank you,” Wu Yang warned.
Fugui controlled Crazy Blade to the minion wave and began hacking away at the soldiers. “Crazy Blade has a strong Level 1 spike. If I don’t contest the wave, it’ll look like I’ve already guessed the Korean twins want to jump me. I’m too smart for that; I have to act a bit more reckless.”
“Giving up First Blood at Level 1—brother, you’ve got guts!”
“Stop teasing me and hurry up. Help Ning-god clear the blue side. As soon as I die, KVG is bound to take a peek into our jungle.”
“Go ahead and die bravely. We’re already clearing it.”
[Is this Crazy Blade really just gonna stand there contesting the wave and brawling with Rain? Does he not realize Wing is hiding in the brush right next to him?!]
[Crazy Blade is strong at Level 1. Million is probably just trying to build an early advantage, right?]
[Build an advantage? Holy crap, he’s about to hand over First Blood. Do you know how high KVG’s win rate is when they get First Blood? I’m done. We shouldn’t have expected VEX to win against KVG. They’re just a nouveau riche team with no foundation.]
[Classic doom-posting right at the start of the first game. To the person above, can you not wait until the match actually ends?]
While the bullet chat was arguing, Rain had already feigned being unable to match Fugui and began to retreat.
Fugui finished the wave, hit Level 2, and gave chase relentlessly.
He had just chased forward two paces when Wing suddenly Flashed out of the brush and used a Q-skill to shove him under the enemy’s defense tower.
Fugui hurriedly used his Flash and displacement skill, but two hands were no match for four. He still couldn’t get away.
“First Blood!”
[Enough. I really don’t have time for your nonsense, VEX.]
[Hello? Is VEX’s solo-laner sleepwalking in the semifinals? He got pushed under the tower and still blew his Flash? Talk about maximizing losses. You’re truly a ‘genius.’]
[Actually, I noticed long ago that out of VEX’s five-man squad, the solo-laner is the biggest weak link. VEX fought all the way to the top four, but what highlights has he had? It’s all been the other four carrying him.]
[Caught ganking by the Xiba. A ‘Xiba Prisoner’ appears on stage.]
[@Shengxing Media, promise me you’ll allocate more funds to Coach Zuo and replace Million for the summer split, okay?]
At the match venue, Fugui watched his death timer. Although he had died, he had secured the last hits on the first wave. As for the second wave he couldn’t reach, Land and Wu Yang had cleared it for him.
When calculated strictly, VEX only lost the gold from the First Blood itself.
“So, how was that? Was that Oscar-worthy acting?”
“You could probably win the Academy Award.” Ning Luzhao pinged the map. “I’ll finish the red side and head straight to the top lane without soaking the mid wave. Keep your eyes peeled.”
“OK.”
Crazy Blade returned to the lane, already one level behind Rain. Rain froze the wave, and whenever Fugui stepped up to last-hit, Rain used his range advantage to poke him with a combo.
After a stressful period of back-and-forth, Fugui finally cleared a wave. As he retreated under his tower with half health to use his “Restore” for HP, Rain stood a short distance away in the lane and clicked his “Recall” button.
In the game, Recalling right in front of an opponent was a form of mockery.
The commentators fell into a sudden silence upon seeing that Recall. It took a while before one let out a dry laugh. “Uh, Rain probably wanted to click ‘Restore’ and accidentally hit ‘Recall’ instead?”
“Must be, must be. After all, those two keys are very close on the keyboard. It was likely a slip of the finger.”
[Slip of the finger my ass! You think this is a mobile game where you can press the wrong button? Can a professional player miss-click a keyboard?!]
[The Spring Split officials need to give Rain a yellow card immediately. Recalling to taunt in a match… if I remember correctly, the rules say that deserves a yellow card, right?!]
[Would a yellow card even matter? It takes two to get disqualified. Stop with the impotent rage. If Million hadn’t brainlessly fed First Blood, those Korean players wouldn’t look down on him.]
“The little Xiba likes mocking with Recalls, huh? Ning-god!!!”
“In time. Let’s beat him.”
Matches prohibited insulting opponents, but the two referees standing behind VEX’s seats simultaneously chose to adjust their headsets, pretending they hadn’t heard the “little Xiba.”
What? A yellow card?
They must have misheard. VEX clearly said “little Xigua.”
Rain had just finished his Recall-mockery when Fugui’s Crazy Blade charged forward.
The director immediately gave Rain a camera shot.
The Korean player, with his idol-style permed hair and foundation whiter than a wall, wore a smirk of contempt. As he operated his hero, he even turned his head to laugh and say something to the teammate beside him.
Halfway through their brawl, Wing leaped out of the same brush as before. Attempting to repeat the previous trick, he used an Ult-Flash to push Fugui away.
The instant the Korean twins’ positions overlapped, two people suddenly surged out from the brush beside Fugui.
Wu Yang initiated and CC’ed both of them. Land followed up with his skills point-blank to leave them crippled. Fugui landed two basic attacks and beautifully secured the double kill.
He stepped over Rain’s corpse in-game. “Sigh—I just put on a little show to make you think I was a soft persimmon. I was fine just acting, but you actually took it seriously? Fond of Recalling to taunt, are we?”
Bringing a wave of minions under the enemy tower, Fugui began hacking at it.
Crazy Blade starts with just a sword and relies entirely on basic attacks for damage. While his mechanics were a bit ancient, his tower-pushing speed was undeniably fast.
By the time Rain respawned and returned to lane, the first top tower had already been completely demolished.
[666666.]
[Where are the people who were flaming Million just now? Get out here and apologize!]
[This was only because Land and Sea ganked well. Million just stole two kills and now he’s acting up.]
[If Million hadn’t baited them so well, would Land and Sea have caught anyone?]
[To those talking about individuals while ignoring team coordination—is your rank even Diamond???]
The director, never one to miss a chance to stir up drama, gave Rain another camera shot. The smile was still there, but compared to the previous disdain, it now carried a hint of flustered irritation.
Commentator A: “VEX just counter-ganked KVG’s Korean solo-support duo, and the results were excellent! A 0-for-2 trade, plus the first top tower!”
Commentator B: “Indeed. Million’s Crazy Blade secured two kills, quickly overturning the early First Blood deficit. Once Crazy Blade builds an economic lead, his solo split-pushing becomes a massive headache. His ultimate provides damage reduction in melee combat while boosting attack and movement speed, and Million is building full tank items.”
“Players in pub matches have tested it—a full-tank Crazy Blade can activate his ultimate and ignore tower damage to solo a tower even without minions! We all know VEX is incredibly good at macro play. Everyone likely remembers their 1-3-1 split push against BLUE. In this game, will it be a 4-1 split?”
Having established an advantage in the top lane, Fugui continued to push while the others quickly grouped up in the mid lane.
Wu Yang: “Only KVG’s dual carries are in mid. The two Koreans haven’t shown themselves. Fugui, be careful. Those two look like the petty, vengeful types. They might be coming for you again.”
“Let them come. I have my ult. Think those two can kill me?” Fugui laughed. “Come on, come on. I’ll wait for them. It’ll be like walking a dog—”
The moment the Korean twins showed themselves in the top lane, Wall completely ignored the converging mid-minion waves and used an Ult-Flash under the tower to engage KVG’s mid-laner.
Wu Yang followed immediately. He and Wall took turns tanking the tower. Beyond rolled forward to provide damage while simultaneously blocking the river path. Land wrapped around from KVG’s jungle, using a displacement skill to jump from between the first and second mid towers right onto the mid-laner’s face.
KVG’s mid-laner evaporated instantly.
Only the marksman remained under the tower, shivering and desperately trying to dodge various AOE (area of effect) skills.
Ning Luzhao said in a deep voice, “We can still kill! I’ll tank, Beyond finish him!”
The synergy they had practiced countless times allowed them to time their tower-tanking HP perfectly. Wall and Wu Yang retreated with low health, and Beyond stepped in to share the tower damage with Land.
The kill score reached 4-1!
On the other side, Fugui had activated his ultimate and swapped to movement speed boots. He was currently “walking the dogs” through the top lane and KVG’s red jungle. After the Korean twins had taken half his health, he dodged a key CC skill with his positioning and began to sprint with his ultimate active.
The Korean twins chased him for five or six seconds before realizing they couldn’t catch him, but by then, their own dual carries in mid had already been shut down.
“Awesome job, brothers! Eh? Why did the Korean twins stop chasing me?” Fugui glanced at the minimap, his tone a bit punchable. “Giving up, are you? If you’re not chasing, I’m going back to push the tower.”
The Korean twins had just returned to mid to defend when they saw that the Crazy Blade they had been chasing was already bringing minions to their second top tower. With his ultimate active, his health was nearly full again, and the tower’s HP bar was vanishing rapidly.
Commentator A: “VEX has started using Crazy Blade’s traits for a 4-1 split push. Actually, Rain and Wing shouldn’t have gone for Crazy Blade in that last wave! His economy isn’t low; it’s very hard for just the two of them to kill him. VEX’s four-man group was also incredibly decisive—diving the mid carries and rotating tower-tanking with zero calculation errors. Simply beautiful!”
Commentator B: “Crazy Blade has taken KVG’s second top tower and is now rotating to the bottom lane to keep pushing. Now that KVG is at a disadvantage, it’s hard for them to deal with this Crazy Blade unless they send three or more people to gank him.”
The first Small Dragon spawned.
“Fugui, KVG is likely coming for you with their whole team.”
“Let them come. I’ll buy you guys time; you burst the dragon down.”
“Can you trade yourself for a tower?”
“…Ning-god, you really don’t value my life at all!” Fugui joked. Seeing five KVG heroes behind him, he opened his ultimate. “I can trade! I’m swapping to attack speed boots to hack this tower down!”
VEX secured the Small Dragon without any interference, while Fugui managed to take down a tower at the very last second under the siege of five people.
“Fugui, join us for a front-on team fight in a bit.”
“You’re not gonna make me stand at the very front… to hard-clear KVG’s high ground, are you?”
They had the Small Dragon’s buff, and the others had already prepared the minion waves in all three lanes.
“Fine. I’ll head straight to the front in a bit.”
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